"Tupac Shakur was the most influential Black person in the 1990s."
-- Andrew J. Ryan

Rarely do I quote myself, but when the subject is Tupac, it raises a lot of personal emotion. Actually, it's hard to find quotes on Tupac because a lot of folks are afraid to praise this man. He's defintely not as safe as Martin Luther King or Colin Powell, but then again, neither of them has touched my generation the way Pac has. We live in a world where the voice of the Black community has been hushed to a whisper. Tupac wasn't about to let that happen as he proclaimed: "Holler if Ya Hear Me!"

I never met Tupac, but I have seen him before. He was the brother on the corner who the cops harassed, he was the cat who I played ball with in the Bronx, he was the dude who I met in the bus station and I brought a bus ticket for. He was also my man who wanted to be with women all the time, but would never stand me up for a female. I could go on and on. THAT is why I love Pac. He was real. If you are a Black man, you can see a piece of Tupac inside of you. How many of us look at Biggie and say: "Yeah, he's like me!"

Tupac Shakur died at 25! Twenty-five years old. Name me another brother who did so much at such a young age. In the next few months, I plan to do a lot of reading and research on Pac. I'm not trying to simply glorify the man, but I'd like to do a scholarly investigation of his work and character. The world will never see another Tupac Shakur and it is up to us to make sure the next generation has a clear picture of Pac. If his legacy is to stand 10-20 years from now, WE have to lay the foundation now!

PEACE,
DRU